Tom Girardi, estranged husband of Actual Housewives of Beverly Hills ‘ Erika Jayne, indicted for theft
To cite erstwhile Actual Housewife Bethenny Frankel: It’s about Tom.
Tom Girardi, that’s. The famed lawyer, whose case in opposition to Pacific Gasoline & Electrical impressed the film Erin Brockovich, and estranged husband of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills‘ resident would-be pop star Erika Jayne.
The AP reports Girardi has been indicted by federal grand juries in Los Angeles and Chicago on costs of stealing greater than $18 million from his purchasers.
Steve Eichner/AP Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi
Los Angeles U.S. Legal professional Martin Estrada stated a federal investigation had revealed that behind Girardi’s public persona of a crusader for the much less lucky, he was “committing fraud on a large scale.”
One of many instances that made Girardi well-known (and wealthy) was the 1996 class-action lawsuit in opposition to PG&E for contaminating the water of the residents of Hinkley, Calif., leading to a then-record settlement of $333 million. The lawsuit was the idea of Erin Brockovich, on which Girardi served as an adviser.
That case constructed Girardi’s popularity, however different lawsuits, just like the one in opposition to Lion Air for the 2018 airplane crash that killed 189 individuals, ended up funding Girardi’s more and more lavish life-style. U.S. prosecutors in Chicago stated Girardi, his lawyer son-in-law, and their agency’s chief monetary officer stole cash from 5 purchasers who had reached settlements with Boeing, the producer of the airplane run by Lion Air.
Girardi, 83, was disbarred final yr, his agency Girardi Keese filed for chapter, and he is stated to be affected by dementia and is below a courtroom conservatorship. Jayne filed for divorce in 2020.
Girardi’s downfall and its attendant drama have performed out in actual time as well as on RHOBH, the place Jayne has needed to area softball questions from her good frenemies about what she knew and when, and the extent of her involvement, if any. Jayne has maintained her innocence, although she has been criticized for her obvious lack of sympathy for the victims of her husband’s machinations.
As well as, Jayne and Girardi had been the themes of the 2021 Hulu documentary, The Housewife and the Hustler, which delved additional into Girardi’s scams. Hulu as soon as once more dipped into this specific rip-off effectively, which is able to by no means run dry, with the 2022 Jen Shah documentary, The Housewife and the Shah Shocker.
Shah, the quick and much more short-tempered tentpole of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, was not too long ago sentenced to more than six years for committing wire fraud in a telemarketing scheme that prosecutors argued defrauded hundreds of individuals nationwide, a lot of whom had been older than the age of 55.
Sigh. Actually makes you want for the times when the largest authorized issues plaguing the Housewives universe was someone drunkenly resisting arrest, then one way or the other slipping out of her handcuffs, in south Florida on Christmas Eve.
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